S a n t e r i a Santeria, which translates to “the way of the saints” is an old world religion rich in symbolism that started in West Africa and the Caribbean, merging the beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people (present-day Nigeria) with certain aspects of Catholicism. As African slaves were brought west, colonialists who enslaved them made their belief system illegal, so they formed Santeria. This was the slaves’ way of secretly continuing to follow their now-criminalized belief system while forced to practice the religion (Catholicism) of the colonists. In Santeria, temples called casa de santos (“house of the saints”) provide space for worship and are commonly run by priests or priestesses. These men and women are called Santeros (male) and Santeras (female) and are considered extensions of orishas which are powerful but mortal spirits who depend on humans and require their devotion and sacrifice to survive. The followers of Santeria believe that if they worship the orishas and perform the right rituals, these spirits will help them by providing positive energy so that they can achieve their destiny.
two Santeria priestesses (Santeras) smoking cigars
Animal sacrifices are central to the practice of Santeria. And, while this is one of the most controversial parts of the religion, blood sacrifices are only done with farm animals such as chickens, roosters, goats, and sheep and are done with great respect to the animals in the most humane way possible. This is an ancient and traditional process where the blood is collected and offered to the orishas in an effort to please them and bring good luck, purification, and the forgiveness of sins. No one actually knows how many people practice Santeria because it is mostly a closed, private religion where a person must be initiated before getting more information. However, it’s assumed that Santeria has over 100 million followers around the world.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> H i n d u i s m One of the worlds oldest known organized religions is Hinduism whose sacred writings date as far back as 1400 to 1500 B.C. Although It is the third largest religion in the world it’s mainly followed in India and Nepal. Hinduism is a diverse and complex religion whose main texts arethe Vedas which are considered most important, Upanishadas, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana as well as other texts including the Brahmanas, the Sutras, and the Aranyakas. The Hindu beliefs are based on these writings which include hymns, incantations, philosophies, rituals, poems, and stories.
While the Hindu religion recognizes as many as 330 million gods, it also has one supreme god known as Brahma, the creator of the universe and all beings. Within the Hindu trinity, Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the Preserver, and Shiva is the Destroyer.
In Hinduism, mankind is seen as divine and is one with Brahma whereas all reality outside of Brahma is considered illusion. It is a spiritual goal of a Hindu to become one with Brahma and stop existing as an “individual self” and until this is achieved the Hindu will continue to be reincarnated.
Since animals in India symbolize the vehicles of Hindu gods, they have been traditionally considered sacred in Hinduism. The holiest and most worshipped of the animals in India is the cow which is treated as a god in the shape of an animal and killing cows is strictly forbidden. Other holy animals in Hinduism include the tiger, the bull (vehicle of Shiva), the mouse (vechicle of Ganesh), rats, peacocks, monkeys, snakes, and elephants, however, in the rural parts of the country buffalos, goats, and chickens are sacrificed to the gods to various tribes as part of an old annual tribal tradition.
Q u e s t i o n How important are animals to religion ? Q u o t e s H i n d u i s m This explores how deeply the followers of Hinduism believe that all creatures are the same and that “eating the flesh of one” would be eating yourself making yourself miserable in the process.
Hindus consider it a sin against the gods to hurt anyone, whether human or animal.
S a n t e r i a
“Sacrifice is the most important part of ceremonial worship, and no god can be consulted without it, the value of the offering varying with the importance of the occasion. Besides the offerings thus made for special purposes, or on special occasions, persons who are the followers of a god-that is, those who wear his distinguishing badge and are believed to be under his protection- make, as a rule, daily offerings of small value, such as a few cowries, or a little maize-flour, palm-oil, or palm-wine.”
As has already been mentioned, each god has certain animals which it is proper to sacrifice to him; to use the phraseology of the Old Testament, every god has his "clean" and his "unclean" animals. Some sacrifices are "unclean" to all the gods, as the turkey-buzzard (gunu-gunu), the vulture (akala), and the grey parrot (ofe). As the two former devour offal and carrion, and are, in fact, scavengers, we can see a reason for considering them unclean; but why the grey parrot should also be so considered is not evident. The natives endeavour to account for the "uncleanliness" of these birds by two popular sayings, which run as follows:--
"The turkey-buzzard was required to offer sacrifice, but he refused to do so; the vulture was required to offer sacrifice, but he also refused. When the pigeon was required to offer sacrifice, he did so." "The grey parrot being required to offer sacrifice, refused to offer it; but the green parrot took the sacrifice and offered it. After all, the grey parrot is a citizen of Oyo (the capital of Yoruba) and the green parrot an inhabitant of the country, and yet people thought that the grey parrot was not wise." As the turkey-buzzard, vulture, and grey parrot refused to offer sacrifice, they became "unclean," while the pigeon and the green parrot, which offered it, remained "clean." The latter part of the second saying appears to be ironical, for the grey parrot, in consequence of its uncleanliness, is never offered up, while the green parrot is sacrificed. A.B. Ellis (1894)
These quotes are from a text called The Yoruba Speaking Peoples, written by A.B. Ellis, an African historian, interested in providing information on religious and spiritual beliefs of the Yoruba people, the native followers of Santeria. While Santeria may not follow a specific book or bible, it is founded on rituals and ceremonies that have been passed down by word of mouth. In this book, Ellis explains how protected a follower of the Santeria religion would be if they made sacrifices daily with certain animals being specific for gaining favor to certain gods.
F i n a l T h o u g h t s
Hinduism and Santeria are both complex and mysterious religions. Animals are essential and extremely important to their religion, but they value animals, but in very different ways. Where Hinduism worships animals to the point where of such holiness that followers are banned from killing them, the followers of Santeria use animals as sacrifices to their gods, who they believe wouldn’t survive or help them without these sacrifices.
B a c k g r o u n d
S a n t e r i aSanteria, which translates to “the way of the saints” is an old world religion rich in symbolism that started in West Africa and the Caribbean, merging the beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people (present-day Nigeria) with certain aspects of Catholicism. As African slaves were brought west, colonialists who enslaved them made their belief system illegal, so they formed Santeria. This was the slaves’ way of secretly continuing to follow their now-criminalized belief system while forced to practice the religion (Catholicism) of the colonists.
In Santeria, temples called casa de santos (“house of the saints”) provide space for worship and are commonly run by priests or priestesses. These men and women are called Santeros (male) and Santeras (female) and are considered extensions of orishas which are powerful but mortal spirits who depend on humans and require their devotion and sacrifice to survive. The followers of Santeria believe that if they worship the orishas and perform the right rituals, these spirits will help them by providing positive energy so that they can achieve their destiny.
Animal sacrifices are central to the practice of Santeria. And, while this is one of the most controversial parts of the religion, blood sacrifices are only done with farm animals such as chickens, roosters, goats, and sheep and are done with great respect to the animals in the most humane way possible. This is an ancient and traditional process where the blood is collected and offered to the orishas in an effort to please them and bring good luck, purification, and the forgiveness of sins.
No one actually knows how many people practice Santeria because it is mostly a closed, private religion where a person must be initiated before getting more information. However, it’s assumed that Santeria has over 100 million followers around the world.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
H i n d u i s m
One of the worlds oldest known organized religions is Hinduism whose sacred writings date as far back as 1400 to 1500 B.C. Although It is the third largest religion in the world it’s mainly followed in India and Nepal. Hinduism is a diverse and complex religion whose main texts arethe Vedas which are considered most important, Upanishadas, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana as well as other texts including the Brahmanas, the Sutras, and the Aranyakas. The Hindu beliefs are based on these writings which include hymns, incantations, philosophies, rituals, poems, and stories.
While the Hindu religion recognizes as many as 330 million gods, it also has one supreme god known as Brahma, the creator of the universe and all beings. Within the Hindu trinity, Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the Preserver, and Shiva is the Destroyer.
In Hinduism, mankind is seen as divine and is one with Brahma whereas all reality outside of Brahma is considered illusion. It is a spiritual goal of a Hindu to become one with Brahma and stop existing as an “individual self” and until this is achieved the Hindu will continue to be reincarnated.
Since animals in India symbolize the vehicles of Hindu gods, they have been traditionally considered sacred in Hinduism. The holiest and most worshipped of the animals in India is the cow which is treated as a god in the shape of an animal and killing cows is strictly forbidden. Other holy animals in Hinduism include the tiger, the bull (vehicle of Shiva), the mouse (vechicle of Ganesh), rats, peacocks, monkeys, snakes, and elephants, however, in the rural parts of the country buffalos, goats, and chickens are sacrificed to the gods to various tribes as part of an old annual tribal tradition.
Q u e s t i o n
How important are animals to religion ?
Q u o t e s
H i n d u i s m
This explores how deeply the followers of Hinduism believe that all creatures are the same and that “eating the flesh of one” would be eating yourself making yourself miserable in the process.
Hindus consider it a sin against the gods to hurt anyone, whether human or animal.
S a n t e r i a
- As has already been mentioned, each god has certain animals which it is proper to sacrifice to him; to use the phraseology of the Old Testament, every god has his "clean" and his "unclean" animals. Some sacrifices are "unclean" to all the gods, as the turkey-buzzard (gunu-gunu), the vulture (akala), and the grey parrot (ofe). As the two former devour offal and carrion, and are, in fact, scavengers, we can see a reason for considering them unclean; but why the grey parrot should also be so considered is not evident. The natives endeavour to account for the "uncleanliness" of these birds by two popular sayings, which run as follows:--
"The turkey-buzzard was required to offer sacrifice, but he refused to do so; the vulture was required to offer sacrifice, but he also refused. When the pigeon was required to offer sacrifice, he did so.""The grey parrot being required to offer sacrifice, refused to offer it; but the green parrot took the sacrifice and offered it. After all, the grey parrot is a citizen of Oyo (the capital of Yoruba) and the green parrot an inhabitant of the country, and yet people thought that the grey parrot was not wise."
As the turkey-buzzard, vulture, and grey parrot refused to offer sacrifice, they became "unclean," while the pigeon and the green parrot, which offered it, remained "clean." The latter part of the second saying appears to be ironical, for the grey parrot, in consequence of its uncleanliness, is never offered up, while the green parrot is sacrificed.
A.B. Ellis (1894)
These quotes are from a text called The Yoruba Speaking Peoples, written by A.B. Ellis, an African historian, interested in providing information on religious and spiritual beliefs of the Yoruba people, the native followers of Santeria. While Santeria may not follow a specific book or bible, it is founded on rituals and ceremonies that have been passed down by word of mouth. In this book, Ellis explains how protected a follower of the Santeria religion would be if they made sacrifices daily with certain animals being specific for gaining favor to certain gods.
F i n a l T h o u g h t s
Hinduism and Santeria are both complex and mysterious religions. Animals are essential and extremely important to their religion, but they value animals, but in very different ways. Where Hinduism worships animals to the point where of such holiness that followers are banned from killing them, the followers of Santeria use animals as sacrifices to their gods, who they believe wouldn’t survive or help them without these sacrifices.